The present invention relates generally to laser aiming devices and, particularly, to an improved mounting for a laser within a laser aiming device for firearms, archery bows, and crossbows.
Firearm and gun are generic terms for a device that is used to fire a projectile. Usually a firearm or gun consists of a metal tube from which a projectile is fired at high velocity into a flat trajectory. Rifles and pistols are portable types of firearms or guns.
A gunsight is a device used to assist in aiming a gun by guiding an eye of a person firing the gun. It is based on the principle that two points (the eye of the person aiming and a suitable mark on the gunsight) in fixed relation to each can be brought into line with a third point (the target or the desired impact point for the projectile). By aiming the gun, one is able to direct the projectile from the gun at a selected impact point.
Traditionally, a gunsight has been a mechanical device and consists of a small, often beaded, projection (as a blade or post) located on top of the muzzle or discharge end of the gun barrel and a transverse bar or leaf located on top of and near the breach or gunstock end of the gun barrel having a notch or hole that allows alignment with the projection at the muzzle end. The transverse bar or leaf is often adjustable to compensate for changes in range of each trajectory of the projectile or the effect of wind on the projectile. Such adjustments are called adjustments for elevation and windage, respectively.
Other gunsights have included optical devices, so-called scopes, that are formed of lenses which serve to gather visible light and to permit one to view objects at a distance at an enlarged perspective. These scopes generally include crossed lines, the crossing point of which are aligned with the desired impact point of the fired projectile. They may also include an electrically generated "dot" to replace the crossed lines.
More recently, firearms or guns have included small laser aiming devices containing laser plasma tubes that emit a fine laser light beam along the barrel of the firearm or gun and approximately along the trajectory of the projectile. Windage and elevational adjustments realign the longitudinal axis of the plasma tube to cause the laser light beam emitted therefrom to be aimed and shined at different points at which a fired projectile might impact. When adjusted correctly, the laser light beam can be made to shine precisely on the impact point of the projectile. Thus, one using a firearm or gun with a laser aiming device need only point, not aim the gun so that the laser beam shines on the desired impact point to ensure that the projectile hits the impact point. The laser aiming device can be mounted either on top of, below, or beside the barrel of the gun. Moreover, they can be formed with or without gunsights.
The plasma tube of a laser aiming device encloses the ionized gas which produces the laser light beam, upon proper excitation. The plasma tube is mounted within a housing which additionally houses and encases the power source, generally batteries.
Previously there were two basic methods for mounting a plasma tube of a laser in a laser aiming device: a torsion spring system and an O-ring or "doughnut" bushing system. In both systems, the adjustments for windage and elevation are accomplished in the same manner.
In the torsion spring system, a torsion spring is incorporated in a laser gunsight to create the counter forces against which the windage and elevation adjustments act. A single torsion spring is placed at approximately 45 angular degrees between the bottom and the side of a round enclosure wall of a laser housing located about the plasma tube. The plasma tube rests against a bend of the torsion spring. Windage and elevation adjustment screws penetrate the laser aiming device housing along perpendicular paths and act directly against the plasma tube to cause the plasma tube to pivot about a forward pivot/front support located on the end of the plasma tube that does not abut the end of the torsion spring. The forward pivot point/front support is formed by wrapping a ring of tape about a forward end of the plasma tube which also serves to secure the tube within the housing, making it very limited and unreliable.
In the O-ring or doughnut bushing system, an O-ring or doughnut-shaped bushing is placed around the alignment mirrors that are located on the end of the plasma tube. The counter forces for the windage and elevation adjustment screws are provided by the natural elasticity of the ring or bushing. Again, the windage and elevation adjustments are accomplished by screws that penetrate the laser aiming device housing along perpendicular paths and which act directly upon the plasma tube. A strip of material is provided to cushion the impact of the screws on the glass plasma tube, but has proven to be very ineffective, and results in the breaking of many tubes.
In each of the systems described above, since the adjustment screws are in direct contact with the plasma tube and are operatively mounted in the laser aiming device housing, the impact forces upon the firing of the gun are passed directly from the housing through the adjustment screws to the plasma tube. Moreover, in neither of the systems is there provided for a pivot point relative to the windage and elevation adjustments so that the windage and elevation settings are stable or repeatable. Additionally, neither of the systems includes both positive and negative adjustments for windage and elevation.